Friday, January 24, 2014

If you like Dystopia or Post-Apocalyptic novels these should be right up your alley. They are by Erica Stevens and the titles are Survival Chronicles: The Upheaval and The Divide. Ms Stevens is writing the third in the series now and posting chapters on her website and facebook pages each Monday. I'm reading them every week.

The Upheaval starts on a normal July day in Massachusetts. Then all hell breaks loose with massive earthquakes. Think about 12 on the Richter scale. Buildings collapse, broken power lines, gas lines, fires, tsunamis. You know the drill. The novels follow several characters as they try to get to a safe place. One chapter from each point of view. The core group eventually comes together as they journey inland.Something has been unleashed by the deep fissures in the earth which is causing people to get sick then to become, not zombies but close. I'm not a zombie reader but by the time they appeared I was too interested to stop reading. It's obvious that the illness will eventually kill the people but in the meantime they are ravenously hungry and don't care where they get the meat they crave from. Needless to say the group must keep from being eaten.

The struggles of life are well laid out. Finding food, water, running vehicles, gas, supplies, weapons and ammunition are basics of each day as the group moves further inland. Keeping away from the masses who have the disease and dealing with the loss of family, friends and the world as they knew it take an emotional toll on each member.

Book one ends with the group getting split apart by another earthquake which is deep enough to allow magma to rise in the fissure. The Divide is the two small groups trying to get back together at the home of Xander's grandmother. Coping with the new reality stretches each person as they deal with things they never thought could happen and the things they have to do to survive and keep those with them alive and well too.I loved the premise, natural disaster so massive society collapses and the struggle to stay alive. The zombie thing, well, I think it's pretty easy to have herds of people becoming zombies and trying to kill the healthy people. My question is why don't they eat each other?I became involved with the lives of the characters. The events don't all revolve around the zombie people. They aren't called zombies in the books. In fact the term is discussed by the characters and rejected. These people were ill, but in the choice between killing or being killed no mercy was given. Understandable.I posted reviews for both books on Amazon giving each 5 stars because they held me in their grip. I'm reading Book 3 as it's posted on her website. It is a series which must be read in order.

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